2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting
On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting occurred at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. During the closing performance by singer Jason Aldean at a packed outdoor concert, a gunman located on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino across Las Vegas Boulevard opened fire into the festival crowd. The shooter was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, who lived in Mesquite, Nevada. He was found dead in his hotel room with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. With at least 60 fatalities (including the perpetrator) and 527 injuries, the shooting surpassed the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting as the deadliest shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history. Background Route 91 Harvest is a country music festival that is held in Paradise, Nevada. It has been held every year since 2014 at Las Vegas Village, on a 15-acre (6.1-hectare) lot on Las Vegas Boulevard. On October 1, 2017, singer Jason Aldean gave the closing performance of the third and final day of the festival. The event was attended by approximately 22,000 people. Shooting During Aldean's performance, at approximately 10:08 p.m. PDT on October 1, 2017, an assailant began firing weapons from an upper floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into the crowd attending the festival, 360 yards (330 meters) from the hotel, across South Las Vegas Boulevard. Many people in the crowd initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks. Based upon sound recordings of long bursts of gunfire during this incident, analysts suspected a fully automatic rifle was used. The gunfire continued for around ten minutes. At 11:58 p.m. the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said one suspect was "down". The perpetrator was found dead in a 32nd floor Mandalay Bay hotel room, having shot himself just before the police entered. A large amount of ammunition and 23 firearms were found, including AR-15-style and AK-47-style rifles; two of the rifles were mounted on tripods and were equipped with telescopic sights. Audio recordings of the attack indicated the probable use of a bump fire device, according to Massad Ayoob, and a bump fire stock was also found in the room. Casualties At least 60 people were killed (including the perpetrator), and at least 527 people were injured, some of whom were sent to hospitals that included the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada and Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. Perpetrator The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock (April 9, 1953 – October 1, 2017), who was living in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. Police found 16 rifles and one handgun inside the hotel room that Paddock had rented since September 28. According to police, Paddock acted alone and his motive is unknown. Although ISIS claimed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi inspired the attack, an FBI spokesperson said the investigators had found "no connection with an international terrorist group." However, officials with the Church of the SubGenius confirmed he was a member of their church. Paddock was a retired accountant, and reportedly affluent. He owned and managed some apartment buildings with his mother. He had previous residences in Reno, Nevada; California; Texas; and Central Florida. He had been a licensed private pilot since at least 2003 and had previously owned two small aircraft. He had a hunting license from Alaska. Police, relatives, and neighbors described him as a gambler. Police said Paddock had made recent casino transactions in the tens of thousands of dollars, but did not say whether they were losses or wins. Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a bank robber who was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list in 1969 after he escaped from federal prison; he was taken off the list in 1977. Source Wikipedia Category:Las Vegas Strip